麦卡洛老师「你并不特别」中英对照全文 这几天看到奇摩新闻报导美国威尔斯利高中老师大卫．麦卡洛有篇「你并不 特别」的毕业典礼演讲影片，在网路上获得热烈回响。今天特地上YouTube搜寻 影片来看，觉得讲得很精彩。引经据典却不落俗套，幽默风趣之余又发人省思。 於是也找了中文字幕版的想分享给大家，不过发现影片中的翻译有许多地方 怪怪的。虽然大体上已经有把麦卡洛老师想传达的都传达了，但身为英文老师， 还是想自己来翻译看看(虽然不一定比较好)。里面有许多用语的有文化背景差异 问题，我在文後有一一注解。至於其他翻得不通顺的地方，请各位多多包涵，如 能指正，更是感激不尽。 原文於 http://www.wretch.cc/blog/No1Kelvin/7821697 ====================================================================== David McCullough, Jr. - You Are Not Special At Wellesley High School Commencement 「你并不特别」 大卫．麦卡洛 於威尔斯利高中毕业典礼 Dr. Wong, Dr. Keough, Mrs. Novogroski, Ms. Curran, members of the board of education, family and friends of the graduates, ladies and gentlemen of the Wellesley High School class of 2012, for the privilege of speaking to you this afternoon, I am honored and grateful. Thank you. 翁博士、基欧博士、诺渥果斯基女士、柯伦女士、教育会的委员们、毕业生的家 人朋友们、威尔斯利高中2012年毕业班的女士们、先生们，我非常荣幸也十分感 激能有这个机会在这个下午对你们致词。谢谢。 So here we are… commencement… life's great forward-looking ceremony. And don't say, "What about weddings?" Weddings are one-sided and insufficiently effective. Weddings are bride-centric pageantry. Other than conceding to a list of unreasonable demands, the groom just stands there. No stately, hey-everybody-look-at-me procession. No being given away. No identity-changing pronouncement. 因此，我们在这里。毕业典礼。生命中重要的前瞻性仪式。请不要说：「那麽婚 礼呢？」婚礼是单方面的、而且常常效果不佳。婚礼是以新娘为中心的盛会。除 了同意一连串不怎麽合理的要求外，新郎通常只能杵在那儿。没有盛大的、让大 家盯着你瞧的队伍行进。没有嫁入他门的不舍送别，没有称谓变换的身分宣告。 And can you imagine a television show dedicated to watching guys try on tuxedos? Their fathers sitting there misty-eyed with joy and disbelief, their brothers lurking in the corner muttering with envy. Left to men, weddings would be, after limits-testing procrastination, spontaneous, almost inadvertent… during halftime… on the way to the refrigerator. And then there's the frequency of failure: statistics tell us half of you will get divorced. A winning percentage like that'll get you last place in the American League East. The Baltimore Orioles do better than weddings. 你能够想像有个让大家看着男士们穿上燕尾服的电视节目吗？他们的父亲坐在那 里，眼眶中打转着喜悦与怀疑的泪水。他们的兄弟们溜到角落，低声嘀咕、语带 羡慕。在几经考验耐性的冗长拖延後，婚礼对男士来说，简直就像是利用观看超 级盃时的中场休息时间，顺便自动地走到冰箱打开饮料喝那样的无关紧要。事实 上，婚姻是有其失败率的，统计数据指出在座的各位有一半未来将会离婚。成功 的机率低到让你稳坐美联东区炉主。连巴尔的摩金莺队的胜率都比婚姻来的高。 But this ceremony… commencement… a commencement works every time. From this day forward… truly… in sickness and in health, through financial fiascos, through midlife crises and passably attractive sales reps at trade shows in Cincinnati, (parents get that) through diminishing tolerance for annoyingness, through every difference, irreconcilable and otherwise, you will stay forever graduated from high school, you and your diploma as one, 'til death do you part. 可是毕业典礼这个仪式，却每次都能顺利圆满。从今尔後，真的，不管你经历生 病或健康、财务困难、中年危机，还是在辛辛那提的展售会遇到长相还过得去的 销售代表，(家长都晓得)，或许你对事物容忍度越来越低、也许遭遇到可解决的 或束手无策的各种改变，不管怎样，你都确确实实地从这所高中毕业了。你，与 你的文凭合为一体，至死不渝。 No, commencement is life's great ceremonial beginning, with its own attendant and highly appropriate symbolism. Fitting, for example, for this auspicious rite of passage, is where we find ourselves this afternoon, the venue. Normally, I avoid cliches like the plague, wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole, but here we are on a literal level playing field. That matters. That says something. And your ceremonial costume… shapeless, uniform, one-size-fits-all. Whether male or female, tall or short, scholar or slacker, spray-tanned prom queen or intergalactic X-Box assassin, each of you is dressed, you'll notice, exactly the same. And your diploma… but for your name, exactly the same. 然而，事情也不尽然如此。毕业典礼是生命中伟大仪式性的开端。有其自身的附 加意义与高度象徵性的意涵。例如，透过参加这场喜气洋洋的成年礼，我们在这 个下午替自己找到一个立足点。一般而言，我会避免讨人厌的陈腔滥调。连碰都 不想碰(译注一)。但当此刻我们的确处在大家公平竞争的竞技场(译注二)，这句 陈腔滥调就显得有价值了。它透露着某些重要讯息。看看你们的典礼服装，毫无 造型、大小一致。不管是男女、高矮、会读书或不会读书、皮肤晒成棕褐色的舞 会女王还是X-Box的星际刺客(译注三)，你们每个人，注意到了没，都穿着一模 一样的衣服。至於你的文凭，除了你的名字以外，也都长得完全相同。 All of this is as it should be, because none of you is special. You're not special. You are not exceptional. 这一切本应如此，因为你，并不特别。 你并不特别，你并不与众不同。 Contrary to what your U9 soccer trophy suggests, your glowing 7th grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty Aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you… you're nothing special. 尽管你有座U9足球奖杯(译注四)，有张闪闪发亮的七年级成绩单，而且你确信世 上存在着紫色肥胖恐龙，还有那位笑咪咪的罗杰斯先生(译注五)和疯狂的西尔维 亚阿姨，尽管你的女超人屡屡从天上飞下来救你，很抱歉，你还是没什麽特别的。 Yes, you've been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You've been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored. You've been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie. 是的，你一直养尊处优、娇生惯养、被溺爱、被保护、被美丽的泡泡围绕。是的 ，那些正忙着其他事的大人们，总是把你捧在手心、亲吻你、喂养你、帮你擦嘴 巴、替你擦屁股、训练你、教导你、引导你、指导你、聆听你、辅导你、鼓励你 、安慰你，然後再一次地鼓励你。你曾被人轻推示好、被巧语哄骗、被热情款待 、被奉承讨好，甚至被亲昵喊作甜心派。 Yes, you have. And, certainly, we've been to your games, your plays, your recitals, your science fairs. Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gasp with delight at your every tweet. Why, maybe you've even had your picture in the Townsman. And now you've conquered high school… and, indisputably, here we all have gathered for you, the pride and joy of this fine community, the first to emerge from that magnificent new building… 是的，你有过。而且，我们都去过你们的比赛、你们的戏剧、你们的独奏会、你 们的科学展览。当你走进房间看到每个人脸上挂起笑容、当你随便发一则推特文 章底下就响起数百个赞声，甚至Townsman上还曾刊出你的照片(译注六)。而现在 ，你完成了高中学业，而且，无庸置疑地，我们全为了你而聚集在这里，当你身 为这个社区的荣耀和喜悦，身为第一位从那座宏伟新大楼走出来的学生。 But do not get the idea you're anything special. Because you're not. 但，千万不要以为你就有什麽特别的，因为你并没有。 The empirical evidence is everywhere, numbers even an English teacher can't ignore. Newton, Natick, Nee… I am allowed to say Needham, yes? …that has to be two thousand high school graduates right there, give or take, and that's just the neighborhood N's. Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million seniors are graduating about now from more than 37,000 high schools. 实证无所不在。这数据甚至连英文老师都不会忽略(译注七)。牛顿、纳提克、尼 …我可以提「尼汉」吗(译注八)？光是这里就有将近2000个高中毕业生，而且这 还只是邻近社区而已。此时此刻，整个美国有超过320万个高中生从3万7千所高 中毕业。 That's 37,000 valedictorians… that's 37,000 class presidents… 92,000 harmonizing altos… 340,000 swaggering jocks… 2,185,967 pairs of Uggs. But why limit ourselves to high school? After all, you're leaving it. So think about this: even if you're one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you. Imagine standing somewhere over there on Washington Street on Marathon Monday and watching 6,800 'yous' go running by. 这也意味着，有3万7千位毕业生代表。3万7千个学生会长(译注九)。9万2千个和 声男高音。34万个体育健将。281万双靴子被穿在脚上。但，为何局限在高中范 围呢？毕竟你将离开这个地方。所以，不妨试着这样想，即便你是万中选一的菁 英，但地球上有68亿人口，那代表这世界上将近7千个像你这样的人。想像你站 在华盛顿街，那里正举办星期一马拉松比赛，然後看着6千8百个「你」从你身旁 擦身而过。 And consider for a moment the bigger picture: your planet, I'll remind you, is not the center of its solar system, your solar system is not the center of its galaxy, your galaxy is not the center of the universe. In fact, astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot be it.[applause] Neither can Donald Trump… which someone should tell him… although the hair is quite a phenomenon. 接着，让我们把视野再拉大一点。你所处的地球，让我提醒你，并不是太阳系的 中心。你的太阳系并不是银河系的中心。你的银河系也不是这宇宙的中心。事实 上，太空物理学家告诉我们，宇宙并没有所谓的中心。因此，你当然也不可能是 。(大家鼓掌)。当然，唐纳德．川普(美国大亨)也不会是。或许某人该告诉他这 个事实。尽管他的头发还蛮酷炫的。 "But, Dave," you cry, "Walt Whitman tells me I'm my own version of perfect! Epictetus tells me I have the spark of Zeus!" And I don't disagree. So that makes 6.8 billion examples of perfection, 6.8 billion sparks of Zeus. You see, if everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless. 「但，大卫老师…」你大声喊着，「惠特曼(美国诗人)告诉我，我就是自己的完 美版本阿。艾匹克提塔斯(古希腊贤人)也说，我拥有宙斯的火花。」对此我并不 反对。只是，按照这个说法看来，这世上便有了68亿个完本版本，有68亿道宙斯 的火花。你看，当每个人都是特别的，便没有人是特别的了。如果每个人都拿到 奖盃，那奖盃将毫无意义。 In our unspoken but not so subtle Darwinian competition with one another -which springs, I think, from our fear of our own insignificance, a subset of our dread of mortality - we have of late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement. We have come to see them as the point - and we're happy to compromise standards, or ignore reality, if we suspect that's the quickest way, or only way, to have something to put on the mantelpiece, something to pose with, crow about, something with which to leverage ourselves into a better spot on the social totem pole. 在近年来从不明说却显而易见的达尔文竞争模式中-对此我相信它源自人类对於 自身渺小的恐惧与害怕死亡的某种心态-我们美国人，总是喜爱赞美大过於真实的 成就，然而这种习惯是有害的。我们必须严肃看待这一点。我们总是乐於妥协标 准、忽视事实，以为这是最快或是唯一的方式，能把某件物品(指奖杯)放在壁炉 架上，与其拍照留念，对人自夸自擂，能让我们在社会图腾柱上取得更好的位置 (译注十)。 No longer is it how you play the game, no longer is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourself doing it… Now it's "So what does this get me?" As a consequence, we cheapen worthy endeavors, and building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more about the application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans. 我们开始不在乎如何比赛、不管输还是赢、不管有无学习与成长、或是有没有从 中获得乐趣，我们所关心的变成：「这件事能给我什麽好处？」这样一来，我们 只会把每一份努力变得廉价，把焦点放在兴建瓜地马拉医疗中心对鲍登大学的应 用，而非瓜地马拉人的福祉。 It's an epidemic - and in its way, not even dear old Wellesley High is immune… one of the best of the 37,000 nationwide, Wellesley High School… where good is no longer good enough, where a B is the new C, and the mid-level curriculum is called Advanced College Placement. And I hope you caught me when I said "one of the best." I said "one of the best" so we can feel better about ourselves, so we can bask in a little easy distinction, however vague and unverifiable, and count ourselves among the elite, whoever they might be, and enjoy a perceived leg up on the perceived competition. But the phrase defies logic. By definition - by definition there can be only one best. You're it or you're not. 这种想法是具有传染性的。连我们这间历史悠久、全美3万7千所高中里最好之一 的威尔斯利高中也无法幸免。在这里，我们总是觉得好还要更好，乙等顶多应该 算是丙等，中等学程其实是大学预修课程。我希望你们注意到我刚刚提到的「最 好之一」这个说法。我之所以说「最好之一」，是因为这样使我们得以自我感觉 良好，使我们沉浸在这种草率分类法所带来的喜悦中，尽管它模糊且缺乏考证。 我们以为自己也是菁英之一，无论这些菁英的身分为何，然後在自我想像中的竞 赛里，想像自己处於领先地位。但这句话其实没有逻辑，照道理讲，最好的只有 一个，你是就是，不是就不是。 If you've learned anything in your years here I hope it's that education should be for, rather than material advantage, the exhilaration of learning. You've learned, too, I hope, as Sophocles assured us, that wisdom is the chief element of happiness. Second is ice cream… just a - just an fyi. I also hope you've learned enough to recognize how little you know… how little you know now… at the moment… for today is just the beginning. It's where you go from here that matters. 如果你在这些年里学到了任何东西，我希望你了解教育的真义在於学习的乐趣， 而非世俗的收获。我希望你体会到索福克里斯(雅典悲剧作家)曾说过的「智慧是 快乐的主要成分」这句话。第二成分是冰淇淋…纯粹..仅供参考。我也希望，你 能体认到你所知道的有多麽少。你所认识的有多麽少，在这一刻。不过其实今天 只是个开端，日後的不断学习才是关键。 As you commence, then, and before you scatter to the winds, I urge you to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance. Don't bother with work you don't believe in any more than you would a spouse you're not crazy about, lest you too find yourself on the wrong side of a Baltimore Orioles comparison. Resist the easy comforts of complacency, the specious glitter of materialism, the narcotic paralysis of self-satisfaction. Be worthy of your advantages. 在你毕业的此刻，在你们即将乘风飞翔之前，我希望你们能够基於真正热爱并相 信其重要性才去做任何事情。不要费心去理会那些连你都不相信的事物。但也不 要在巴尔的摩金莺队的比赛中坐错边。不要太志得意满、不要被物质主义的闪闪 亮光给诱惑、也不要被自我美化的幻象给催眠。珍视你的长处。 And read… read all the time… read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life. Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love, everyone you love, with all your might. And do so, please, with a sense of urgency, for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer; and as surely as there are commencements there are cessations, and you'll be in no condition to enjoy the ceremony attendant to that eventuality no matter how delightful the afternoon. 阅读，持续广泛地阅读。阅读关乎於价值观与自尊的建立，阅读是生命的精神食 粮。培养及保持道德理性，并展现良好的品格。勇敢地梦想，并付诸实行，好好 思考自己的人生。尽可能去爱你周遭的每一件事物与每一个人。而且，要把握时 机，时间正一分一秒地流逝。各位也要记得，凡事有开始就有结束。不管你有多 麽享受今天的美好午後时光，这场毕业典礼总会落幕。 The fulfilling life, the distinctive life, the relevant life, is an achievement, not something that will fall into your lap because you're a nice person or mommy ordered it from the caterer. You'll note the founding fathers took pains to secure your inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness-quite an active verb, "pursuit" - which leaves, I should think, little time for lying around watching parrots roller skate on Youtube. 充实的人生、独特的人生、有意义的人生，是一项难得的成就。但那不会因为你 是个好人就从天而降，或是你母亲出面替你打点就能获得。我们的开国元勳们， 费尽心力替我们巩固了生命、自由与对幸福的追求等种种不可剥夺的权利。相当 活跃的一个动词，「追求」。今日你才得以在琐碎时间里，舒服躺着看YouTube 上鹦鹉溜冰的影片。 The first President Roosevelt, the old rough rider, advocated the strenuous life. Mr. Thoreau wanted to drive life into a corner, to live deep and suck out all the marrow. The poet Mary Oliver tells us to row, row into the swirl and roil. Locally, someone… I - I forget who… from time to time encourages young scholars to carpe the heck out of the diem. The point is the same: get busy, have at it. 第一任罗斯福总统，一位老练的骑士，提倡勤奋的人生。作家梭罗尝试过着隐居 的简单生活，活得深刻，并品尝生命的精髓。诗人玛丽．奥利佛则告诉我们，划 行，划行到漩涡处，且享受其摇摆。在本地，有人…我忘了是谁…(译注：应该 是他自己)，常常鼓励莘莘学子们活在当下。这些话的重点都是一样的：「动起来 ，尽力去做。」 Don't wait for inspiration or passion to find you. Get up, get out, explore, find it yourself, and grab hold with both hands. Now, before you dash off and get your YOLO tattoo, ah let me point out the illogic of that trendy little expression-because you can and should live not merely once, but every day of your life. 不要枯等灵感与热情来敲门。起身吧，出门去，大胆冒险，勇敢探索，并好好把 握。现在，在你匆匆跑去纹上「YOLO」的刺青前，让我为你点出这个时下流行语 的不合逻辑之处-其实你不能也不应该只活一次，而是要好好活在每一天的当下。 Rather than You Only Live Once, it should be You Live Only Once… but because YLOO doesn't have the same ring, we shrug and decide it doesn't matter. 与其说你只能活一次(YOLO)，不如说人生无法重来(YLOO)。不过因为YLOO念起来 没那麽响亮，所以我们耸耸肩，觉得应该无所谓吧。 None of this day-seizing, though, this YLOOing, should be interpreted as license for self-indulgence. Like accolades ought to be, the fulfilled life is a consequence, ah a gratifying byproduct. It's what happens when you're thinking about more important things. 把握今朝不应该被曲解为自我沉溺的藉口。如同赞美的本质，充实的生活也是一 个结果，一项令人喜悦的副产品。当你用心在重要的事物上面时，这样的结果往 往会自动浮现。 Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. Go to Paris to be in Paris, not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly. 登上山顶，不是为了插上旗帜，而是能够迎向挑战，享受新鲜空气，好好欣赏底 下的美景。爬上去，所以你可以看到世界，而不是为了让世界可以看到你。去巴 黎，就好好体验巴黎，不是把为了将它从旅游清单上划去，然後沾沾自喜自己又 去过一个国家。 Exercise free will and creative, independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you, but for the good they will do others, the rest of the 6.8 billion - and those who will follow them. And then you too will discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself. The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you're not special. Because everyone is. 运用自由意志、创造力与独立思考能力，不是为了自身的满足，而是为了他人的 福祉-其他的那些68亿人口，以及未来的下一代子孙。然後，你就会发现人类经 验中真正伟大且充满奇趣的真理：「无私，是我们所能带给自己最棒的事情。」 生命最甜美的滋味，就在於，你我都确认到我们并不特别。 因为，每个人都是特别的。 Congratulations. Good luck. Make for yourselves, please, for your sake and for ours, extraordinary lives. 恭喜各位。祝大家好运。请为了自己，也为了大家，好好打造自己不凡的人生。 ====================================================================== 译注一：not touch with a ten-foot pole为英文俚语，意思是不想干涉或介入。 译注二：level playing field的说法源於美式足球，原本是指地面平坦，不会 有哪边的队员因为跑下坡或上坡得分，造成对其中一方不公平的情形。 後来慢慢广泛用於商场或职场上，指大家你我公平竞争的赛场。这里也 指毕业生脚下那片平坦的草地，意思是说每个人拥有的条件都一样，立 足点都相同。此为一语双关。 译注三：intergalactic X-Box assassin，X-Box为微软於2001年推出之一款游戏 机型，intergalactic X-Box assassin应为里头某一角色。 译注四：U9 soccer，U9指的是under 9 years old，意思是说九岁以下之足球赛。 译注五：Mister Rogers为美国儿童节目主持人，总是一脸笑嘻嘻的。 译注六：Townsman为维尔斯利中学社区的一份刊物，也有网路版。 译注七：甚至连英文老师都不会忽略。英文老师给人印象就是数学差吗？好惨。 译注八：Newton, Natick, Needham都是附近的中学，我猜Needham应该跟威尔斯 利中学有互相叫劲的味道。 译注九：class president相当於学生会长，如果指班长当然不会只有3万7千个。 译注十：social totem pole类似所谓的social ladder，指一个人在群体里的位阶。 --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 58.114.103.241 感谢各位朋友的纠正与提醒，我有就刚刚所讨论的略微修改了一番， 不晓得有没有比较能传达原文语意了。谢谢楼上诸位的讨论，受益良多。 ※ 编辑: KelvinTsai 来自: 58.114.103.241 (06/17 21:45)